[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by arista

[Paedophile Mark Sutherland loses human rights court challenge]



[Mark Sutherland's appeal was unanimously rejected by Scotland's
Supreme Court judges]


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53416056

I get so conflicted over this subject in particular, vigilantism should be left to films and comic books and I do think that most groups probably do more harm then good but I can't really oppose people who expose this sort of thing. I know there's some organisations that do things the right way but I do think that, before long, there'll be incidents of stings gone wrong and I think people could get hurt.

I think the practice of basically anyone becoming a hunter should be discouraged but I can't oppose the more organised groups that do things by the book and get results.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I get so conflicted over this subject in particular, vigilantism should be left to films and comic books and I do think that most groups probably do more harm then good but I can't really oppose people who expose this sort of thing. I know there's some organisations that do things the right way but I do think that, before long, there'll be incidents of stings gone wrong and I think people could get hurt.

I think the practice of basically anyone becoming a hunter should be discouraged but I can't oppose the more organised groups that do things by the book and get results.

Yeah and a person who is such a danger to children "getting off" on a technicality would be despicable

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yeah and a person who is such a danger to children "getting off" on a technicality would be despicable

Yeah, when it's poorly done, a predator can get a mistrial. It's a complex issue, I don't think it should be as widespread a practice as it is but I can't fault the ones that are basically professionals at it. I think it's an issue I'm very much a hypocrite in since I oppose vigilantism but I can't bring myself to condemn hunters completely. It's a difficult one.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I get so conflicted over this subject in particular, vigilantism should be left to films and comic books and I do think that most groups probably do more harm then good but I can't really oppose people who expose this sort of thing. I know there's some organisations that do things the right way but I do think that, before long, there'll be incidents of stings gone wrong and I think people could get hurt.



I think the practice of basically anyone becoming a hunter should be discouraged but I can't oppose the more organised groups that do things by the book and get results.

I know of a group that was shut down (well, shut themselves down) because it did indeed go wrong. They posed as a 15 year old girl online, met up with what they believed to be an adult posing as a 16 year old boy, cornered and confronted him, live-streamed the whole thing to face book...

... Problem was, it actually was a 16 year old boy who happened to be tall and have a lot of facial hair for his age.

And who came from a rather ... Erm... Lively? family. Who tracked down the paedophile hunters and smashed in all of their windows and threatened to kill them.

I understand the motivations of these groups but I think it serves as an example of why these things should be left to professionals. At absolute most, they should just gather information online and hand it over to the police. The physical (and especially the live-streamed) confrontations are just too prone to errors being made.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I know of a group that was shut down (well, shut themselves down) because it did indeed go wrong. They posed as a 15 year old girl online, met up with what they believed to be an adult posing as a 16 year old boy, cornered and confronted him, live-streamed the whole thing to face book...

... Problem was, it actually was a 16 year old boy who happened to be tall and have a lot of facial hair for his age.

And who came from a rather ... Erm... Lively? family. Who tracked down the paedophile hunters and smashed in all of their windows and threatened to kill them.

I understand the motivations of these groups but I think it serves as an example of why these things should be left to professionals. At absolute most, they should just gather information online and hand it over to the police. The physical (and especially the live-streamed) confrontations are just too prone to errors being made.

Yeah, I despise the live streaming aspect since it becomes more about the clout rather than doing good. It basically becomes no different to Tommy Robinson trying to livestream those child abuse trials, it becomes about self promotion rather than bringing predators to justice.

I'm sure I've read about a few groups who don't do that sort of thing though, they gather evidence and turn it in and that's it and I admire those people since they are doing good for the sake of doing good. If it weren't for people like that, I'd oppose hunter groups but while you've got groups that handle things right and never make it about themselves, it's not a practice I can oppose although it often leaves me in a quandary about vigilantism since I oppose it otherwise.